Virgil Flowers heads north to solve a puzzling murder -- & finds that the country is very rough indeed. While competing in a fishing tournament in a remote area of northern Minnesota Flowers gets a call asking him to investigate a murder at a nearby resort where a woman has been shot while kayaking. The resort is for women only: a place to relax get fit recover from plastic surgery & commune with nature. & the more Flowers digs the more he discovers it to be a hotbed of jealousy blackmail greed anger & fear. Then he discovers that this is not the first murder that there was a second seemingly unrelated killing the year before. & that theres about to be a third definitely related one any time now. & as for the fourth.. .well Virgil had better hope he can catch the killer before that happens. Because it could be his own.